Starting at 6:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving a new 1811 Xbox One system update (181108-1720). Read on for more about the fixes and known issues in the latest 1811 system update.
New Features:
Family Settings
Children signing up for new accounts will now be asked to add a parent only if required to by local privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR or COPPA). This means that some minors, like teens in the U.S., will no longer have to add a parent and join a Microsoft family during signup. Xbox privacy and online safety defaults will still be applied based on age, and in order to change those, the minor would need to add a parent on Xbox who can then change their settings. Minors not in a family can add a parent anytime in Settings > Account > Family settings > Add a parent. Joining a family would also allow the parent and child to use other family features like content restrictions, screen time, activity reporting, and spending.
Children that are subject to local privacy regulations will still be required to add a parent during signup. While this will create a Microsoft family through which the parent can use family features like content restrictions, screen time, activity reporting, and spending, the parent will no longer be required to sign in on Xbox. If a parent wants to change their child’s Xbox privacy and online safety settings, the parent can sign in separately on Xbox and manage their family in Settings > Account > Family settings.
Existing child accounts are not affected by this change and will remain with their parents in their current Microsoft family.
Mouse & Keyboard Support
We have enabled mouse support in this release. Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to experience mouse and keyboard support in Warframe.
Search Enhancements
The search function has been enhanced across the console and will now return responses from the Xbox Assist application for example to help with help, support and troubleshooting. Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to help us gather feedback.
Fixes:
Controllers
Fixes to improve the controllers not syncing after taking a system update.
NOTE : All users who take the update WILL have to re-pair your controller once if you encounter the bug (mainly EU countries) and then this issue is fixed.
Known Issues:
Audio
We are tracking audio issues in which some games have audio that cuts in and out
Audio settings reverting to a previous settings after taking an update.
Profile Color
Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.
If your console is in Instant-On mode and you have been selected to receive the update, it will download and install the update and reboot to standby.
NOTE: Once the update is available to you, you can manually begin the update by launching the Guide and navigating to All Settings > System > Updates.
If your console hasn’t downloaded and installed the update by 3:00 AM PDT 11/9/2018 (10:00AM GMT 11/8/18), you will be prompted to do so at that time.
DETAILS:
OS version released: rs5_release_xbox_dev_1811.181107-1810
Available: 6:00PM PST 11/8/18
Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PST 11/9/18
Starting at 6:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha ring will begin receiving a new 1811 Xbox One system update (181107-1810). Read on for more about the fixes and known issues in the latest 1811 system update.
New Features:
Family Settings
Children signing up for new accounts will now be asked to add a parent only if required to by local privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR or COPPA). This means that some minors, like teens in the U.S., will no longer have to add a parent and join a Microsoft family during signup. Xbox privacy and online safety defaults will still be applied based on age, and in order to change those, the minor would need to add a parent on Xbox who can then change their settings. Minors not in a family can add a parent anytime in Settings > Account > Family settings > Add a parent. Joining a family would also allow the parent and child to use other family features like content restrictions, screen time, activity reporting, and spending.
Children that are subject to local privacy regulations will still be required to add a parent during signup. While this will create a Microsoft family through which the parent can use family features like content restrictions, screen time, activity reporting, and spending, the parent will no longer be required to sign in on Xbox. If a parent wants to change their child’s Xbox privacy and online safety settings, the parent can sign in separately on Xbox and manage their family in Settings > Account > Family settings.
Existing child accounts are not affected by this change and will remain with their parents in their current Microsoft family.
Mouse & Keyboard Support
We have enabled mouse support in this release. Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to experience mouse and keyboard support in Warframe.
Search Enhancements
The search function has been enhanced across the console and will now return responses from the Xbox Assist application for example to help with help, support and troubleshooting. Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to help us gather feedback.
Fixes:
Unhide titles in My Games and Apps
The sequence of keys to press to unhide titles from My Games and Apps has been changed:
To Unhide items in you collection, press down on the left stick and hit ‘X’
System – Localization
Fixed localization issues throughout the OS.
System – General
General app stability
Known Issues:
Audio
We are tracking audio issues in which some games have audio that cuts in and out.
Controllers
We are aware of an issue where controllers may need to be re-synced after taking an update.
If you consider yourself a fan of music, you owe it to yourself to check out Rock Band 4 this week. Starting at 11:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, November 6 and running to 8:59 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, November 14, everyone who owns RB4 will have a week of free access to the Rivals expansion.
That gives you access to Rockudrama, the hilarious campaign that sets you as the star of your very own live-action rock documentary, 44 free songs exclusive to the Rivals expansion, online Quickplay, and the eponymous Rivals mode, which is where the heart of the action is.
As an added bonus for Rock Band 4 players, we’ll run a special one-week challenge that showcases the spirit of Rivals and awards an exclusive track skin to everyone who participates.
For those of you who haven’t played in a while, or have been curious about the Rivals expansion, now’s a great time to check out all the cool stuff it adds to the Rock Band 4 experience!
If you are curious about Rivals mode; here’s a quick overview:
Crews: Rivals mode pits groups of up to 10 players against other Crews. A Crew’s collective contribution over the course of the weekly challenge will determine whether they are promoted or not.
Rewards: Rivals mode provides unique rewards to players based on where they finish the season – from wild character assets to exclusive track skin designs.
Challenges: Each week, the team at Harmonix sets up a unique weekly challenge that asks the Rock Band community to compete against each other using a subset of the Rock Band 4 music catalog. Think of it as a themed playlist – one week may focus on metal songs, while another week may focus on easy songs, or songs with the word rock in them.
Seasons: Challenges are grouped into a Season. Seasons generally last for 8 weeks. Over that time, Crews will be promoted to new tiers based on their play. Each promotion tier offers an exclusive reward. Get as far as you can each season to collect everything!
Season 9 will start on November 29, right after Thanksgiving – get your Crew together now and join the fun!
Rock Band 4 owners can find the Rivals expansion by searching for it on the Microsoft Store and then downloading it to your home console to start playing.
Surviving Mars is certainly not your average console game. Sure, it’s set in a sci-fi future where humans must fight to survive in the arid wastelands of space, but you’ll find that surviving our Mars is more about keeping tabs on your colonists’ mental health than flying spaceships. It’s a city-building game where players lead a colonization effort on behalf of a sponsor back on earth. You must manage resources, research scientific anomalies, and build your own life-supporting dome on the red planet. And now with our first-ever expansion, Space Race, launching on November 15, you’ll have to contend with rival colonies too!
Or, you could see the new expansion for yourself! We are hosting a streaming event tomorrow at 17:00 CET / 08:00 PST at the Space Race: Rival Colony stream, and you can join our own Space Race here: https://mixer.com/paradoxinteractive
With rival colonies on the map, players can vie for milestones, anomalies and even important colonists with several other AI colonies backed by competing sponsors. Or you can keep it friendly by establishing trade agreements and responding to their distress calls (and hoping they respond to yours). Your relationship with them will be dynamic, and can even get difficult at times, but ultimately Earth is far, far away and you might need to rely on your Martian neighbors. After all, humankind is most resourceful in a competition
We’ve also seen a lot of members of our community asking to know more about the lives of individual colonists in the middle of this grand experiment. What’s going on at the colonist level of this massive endeavor? What’s with the Flat Mars Society and how can it even exist? What happens when a dome wants to secede from the colony? With Space Race, players can now play out narrative events throughout the colonization process that help add a much-needed human, personal feel to each game and reveal the realities of life in the dome.
Lastly, we’ve also reworked some of the mission sponsor mechanics so that each sponsor has a really different playstyle with their own goals to complete and unique advantages such as special vehicles or buildings. Adding unique buildings and vehicles was critical for our goal. Now every sponsor feels acutely distinctive, and we expect our players will play them differently. This means that even if you successfully establish your colony, you can always go back and take on a whole new challenge with a new mission sponsor (and we’ve added more sponsors, to boot)!
If you get the Space Race Plus bundle, you can also listen to pop music while you play from some of the sponsors’ home countries with the Marsvision Song Contest and get a special Colony Design set for some special buildings to add to your dome. These are some fun extra additions that we thought the community might enjoy. The music especially makes a big difference in a game like Surviving Mars where you might get absorbed in a play session for hours.
All of these changes have come from a vocal and engaged community of players who’ve stuck by our sides since the beginning. They’ve been clear about what would really take this game to the next level and we’d be fools to ignore them. That’s why we’re so excited to be able to launch Space Race next week and have even more content to come!
We work hard to improve the shopping experience in the Microsoft Store, and are always looking for ways to improve the discoverability and purchase of the products and services we sell. Today, we are excited to announce that customers can begin using our improved Shopping Cart and later this week, our new Wish List– two of the most-requested features from our fans.
Shopping Cart
As we mentioned previously, we’ve extended the existing Shopping Cart to work with games and apps for the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. Today, the feature is once again available for testing. Whether you’re shopping for games or apps for Xbox One and/or Windows 10 PCs, hardware or accessories, the improved Shopping Cart means you only have to go through checkout once.
How to add a game or app to the Shopping Cart:
Head to the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 PCs, online or on Xbox One (Xbox Insiders only)
Navigate to the product details page for the item you wish to add to your cart
Look for the “Add to Cart” button underneath the “Buy” button
Select the “Add to cart” button
To view your Shopping Cart, select the “Shopping Cart” button at the top of the Store navigation
To remove an item from your Shopping Cart, navigate to that particular item on your Shopping Cart, and select “Remove”
Ready to check out? Click on the “Checkout” button to the right of your cart to complete your order.
Not ready to purchase a particular item? Navigate to that item in your Shopping Cart and select “Save for later.” We’ll remove that item from your cart and save it in a handy location right below the Shopping Cart itself for future reference.
Additionally, the updated Shopping Cart is persistent and works across Microsoft Store on Xbox One, Windows 10 PCs, and online. So, if you add or remove an item from your cart in one store, those changes will be reflected in the others.
Xbox Insiders can begin using the improved cart today, and shortly after Windows Insiders can begin testing the feature. In a few weeks, all customers using the Microsoft Store on Xbox One, Windows 10 PCs and online can start using it.
Wish Lists
Later this week, customers can begin using the new Wish List feature, which supports all physical products and digital games and apps in the Microsoft Store. The persistent and works across the Microsoft Store on Xbox One, Windows 10 PCs and online, so if you’re shopping on the Microsoft Store on your Xbox and add a digital game to your wish list, that game will appear in your Wish List in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 PCs and online.
Sale pricing and badging is also supported within the Wish List, so customers will quickly be able to see when items on their Wish List go on sale.
How to add items to your Wish List:
Head to the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 PCs, online or on Xbox One (Xbox Insiders only)
Navigate to the product details page for the item you wish to add
Look for the “Wish List” button underneath the “Buy” button
Select the “Wish List” button
To view your Wish List, activate the pull-down menu at the top of the Store navigation, and select the “Wish List” option
To remove an item from your Wish List, navigate to that particular item on your Wish List, and select “Remove”
A customer’s Wish List can be kept private or made public and shared with others.
How to share a Wish List:
Click on the “Settings” link in the wish list
Select “Make the wish list public”
Then, click on the “Share” button to share with friends and family
Note: On Xbox, customers will be able to share their public wish list with a list of their Xbox Live friends.
The Wish List feature will be initially be made available to all customers in all supported markets using the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 PCs and online, as well as to our Xbox Insiders. The Wish List will be available to all Xbox customers in a few weeks.
Thanks to the fans who provided suggestions and feedback regarding these features on both the Windows Feedback Hub app and the Xbox Ideas site. And we’d like to give a special shout out to our Xbox and Windows Insiders who tested the previous iteration of the new cart. Please don’t hesitate to let us know how we can continue to improve your shopping experience. Thanks!
Starting at 2:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Beta and Delta Rings will begin receiving a new 1811 Xbox One system update (181030-1920). Read on for more about the fixes and known issues in the latest 1811 system update.
New Features:
Family Settings
Children signing up for new accounts will now be asked to add a parent only if required to by local privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR or COPPA). This means that some minors, like teens in the U.S., will no longer have to add a parent and join a Microsoft family during signup. Xbox privacy and online safety defaults will still be applied based on age, and in order to change those, the minor would need to add a parent on Xbox who can then change their settings. Minors not in a family can add a parent anytime in Settings > Account > Family settings > Add a parent. Joining a family would also allow the parent and child to use other family features like content restrictions, screen time, activity reporting, and spending.
Children that are subject to local privacy regulations will still be required to add a parent during signup. While this will create a Microsoft family through which the parent can use family features like content restrictions, screen time, activity reporting, and spending, the parent will no longer be required to sign in on Xbox. If a parent wants to change their child’s Xbox privacy and online safety settings, the parent can sign in separately on Xbox and manage their family in Settings > Account > Family settings.
Existing child accounts are not affected by this change and will remain with their parents in their current Microsoft family.
Mouse & Keyboard Support
We have enabled mouse support in this release. Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to experience mouse and keyboard support in Warframe.
Search Enhancements
The search function has been enhanced across the console and will now return responses from the Xbox Assist application for example to help with help, support and troubleshooting. Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to help us gather feedback.
Fixes:
Audio
Several fixes to improve the stability of Audio and enhancements to Spatial Audio. The fixes address the issue in which some users would experience no audio or inconsistent audio in games/apps. The enhancements to Spatial audio improve the user experience.
Game Hubs
Game Hub pages will no longer display a blank white square in the top left corner of the screen while in High Contrast Light theme
Networking
Additional fixes to address the console loosing network connectivity at random times.
Additional fixes to address the console fully powering off when it is placed into Instant On mode.
System – USB Keyboard
Fixes to address several areas of navigation when using a USB keyboard:
Users are now able to scroll horizontally through the tiles displayed within the Welcome screen of official clubs
Users are now able to set focus to the Redeem Code or Launch Site button options within Xbox Live Messages
Focus will remain on the Profile tile when attempting to scroll down to the More Actions and Comments button option within the Activity Feeds
Users will now not lose focus within the Welcome tab of Official club pages when scrolling down the screen via the usb keyboard
Scrolling through Profile cards within the guide will appear without choppy navigation
System – General
Fixes to address memory leaks that led to app and system instability.
UI fixes to address spacing of text/Profile cards and game tiles throughout home.
Known Issues:
Profile Color
Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
The Abyss Seasonal Update is Now Available for No Man’s Sky on Xbox One Hello, everyone! We wanted to share with you our seasonal update, The Abyss, releasing free for all No Man’s Sky players. We wanted to focus on improving underwater, and also on some of the eerier elements of the game. Oceans are now a huge part of our gameplay, and a new story, The Dreams of the Deep, brings context to the depths… Read more
A Letter from Chris Charla: ID@Xbox Celebrates Release of 1,000 Titles Through the Program Before we announced the ID@Xbox program, we did a listening tour in 2012 with more than 50 developers to help us shape a program that really worked for developers. At the time, it felt like a lot of people! It’s almost surreal that we’re now looking at thousands of talented people working at more than 3,000 studios… Read more
New Games with Gold for November 2018 Welcome to another Games with Gold reveal for Xbox One and Xbox 360! In November on Xbox One, engage your enemies in the critically acclaimed shooter Battlefield 1, then test your nerves and dexterity in Race the Sun. On Xbox 360 and Xbox One via Backward Compatibility, relive the game that started it all in Assassin’s Creed… Read more
Your Nightclub Bouncer Job Just Got Real in Out of the Box on Xbox One Our club is finally open, so get in line and prepare to enjoy Out of The Box on Xbox One! So, what is Out of The Box? Well, it’s a quirky, cartoonish bouncer simulator. Players not only get to do a bouncer’s job, meeting all sorts of strange characters and getting physical with some of them, they also get to experience a bloody… Read more
1,000 ID@Xbox Titles, Infinite Memories We’ve made so many memories since the launch of the ID@Xbox program in 2013, and we’re still floored that we’ve seen over 1,000 titles release through the program. From the 1930s inspired, hand-drawn run-and-gun Cuphead to the brain-bending puzzle-platformer Inside, these uniquely crafted experiences… Read more
Scary Games to Play on Xbox One This Halloween So, you drew the short straw and got placed on candy duty, leaving you at home waiting for trick-or-treaters to arrive looking for a sweet treat — what a perfect time for you to visit some of our favorite and scariest games to play on Xbox One! From survival horror to post-apocalyptic wastelands, there’s a little something… Read more
Play Just Cause 3 for Free This Weekend with Xbox Live Gold Need more Just Cause in your life? Who doesn’t?! To celebrate the imminent launch of Just Cause 4 on December 4, we’re spoiling you this week with more Just Cause mayhem than ever before. It’s time to wingsuit back into Medici! Starting at 5:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, October 30 and running until 9:00 a.m. PDT on Monday, November 5… Read more
Halloween Comes to Kingdom: New Lands Things are about to get spookier in Kingdom: New Lands as Halloween descends upon us. In the spirit of trick or treat, you might notice an evil grin on the moon during night time and haunted mansions in the far distance across the islands of Kingdom. Even the greedy creatures are dressed up in pumpkin masks… Read more
Welcome to Season 2 Today, our friends at Mixer announced Mixer Season 2, the next major evolution of Microsoft’s interactive livestreaming platform. At its core, Mixer is a place where community comes first so Season 2 covers new investments in innovation that ensure the community has a more active and engaging experience. Building upon… Read more
San Francisco 49ers’ Richard Sherman Takes on Forza Horizon 4 Live on Mixer, Nov. 5 Forza, football, and 49ers fans, get ready to grab your favorite cup of tea and headsets because NFL cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers, Richard Sherman, will take on Great Britain and the open world driving of Forza Horizon 4 in our next Xbox Live Sessions episode! Tune in for all the fun on the Mixer Xbox Channel… Read more
Xbox and Fallout 76 Partnering with the Philadelphia 76ers Xbox is pleased to announce a partnership with publisher Bethesda Softworks and the Philadelphia 76ers during the month of November to celebrate the upcoming launch of Fallout 76 on Xbox One. As part of the partnership, Xbox and Fallout 76 will be taking over an upcoming home game between the 76ers… Read more
Celebrate Día de los Muertos with Forza Horizon 4 Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a global holiday that originated in Mexico where friends and family gather to celebrate the lives of their loved ones and to support their spiritual journeys. To pay tribute to the holiday, the Forza Horizon 4 team partnered with three artists, Sam Rodriguez, Juan Puente, and Axis… Read more
A Soldier’s Guide to the Maps of Battlefield V: Holland and North Africa We’re starting our world tour of the eight maps available in Battlefield V at launch with a detailed look at the first four. From close-quarters urban warfare to expansive vehicle-focused combat, the maps set in Holland (Rotterdam and Devastation) and North Africa (Hamada and Aerodrome) offer players… Read more
Celebrate the Release of “Incredibles 2” in 4K Ultra HD on Xbox One To celebrate the release of “Incredibles 2,” Disney/Pixar and Xbox are excited to announce the Xbox One X Incredibles 2 Custom Console Sweepstakes. In “Incredibles 2,” Helen is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob navigates the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life at home with… Read more
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for November 6 – 9 Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One, read on below and click on each of the game profiles for pre-order details (dates are subject to… Read more
Team Xbox Looks Back on Their Favorite ID@Xbox and Indie Game Memories All of us here on Team Xbox are tremendous fans of the talent involved in the creation of games, especially those that come into the ID@Xbox program. From cartoon platformers to adventure games to strategy simulators, there’s a robust catalog of titles that deliver countless memories from those gaming worlds… Read more
A thousand games have launched through the ID@Xbox program – hopefully, you’ve picked that up by now. My name’s Glenn and I’ve been doing marketing for the ID@Xbox program almost from day one, so I’ve been around for the launch of all but a couple of these. (And I have the grey hair to prove it. Seriously, I had no grey hair before I started working on ID.)
Other than my impeccable grammar and stunning fashion sense, one thing I pride myself in is playing (nearly) all the ID@Xbox games. So, when we got to the 1,000 game milestone I thought to myself, “Hey, Self, I should write an article celebrating all the amazing, landmark, award-winning games in the ID@Xbox program!” And then I thought: “Meh – that’s exactly what everybody would expect, and ID@Xbox is about embracing all kinds of games – including new, unique and different games – from independent publishers.” And what I enjoy as much as anything else about working on the ID team is finding strange and usual games that you’d never see anywhere else.
So, here we go – some of the most unusual, strangest, and even flat out weird games that you can find on Xbox One, courtesy of the ID@Xbox program.
Anarcute – It’s cute anarchy. Get it? Your goal is to assemble a group of cute animals to take on the evil corporations ruling and ruining the world. As you march through the city wreaking havoc you recruit cute companions to join your cause Mob rule has never been so cute! And man is it cute. They make civil disobedience unbelievably cute. Even the music’s cute!
Goat Simulator – In this paradigm of sublime brilliance from the geniuses at Coffee Stain you play (as you might have guessed) as a goat. And you destroy things. And lick things. And when you lick things your goat tongue sticks to things. And can steal Deadmau5’s head. And jump on trampolines (so many trampolines). And you can morph into a tall goat (giraffe), or fancy goat (penguin), etc. And you earn points for doing things. And I guess there are missions – I don’t know, I was too busy licking things.
Headlander – Don’t lose your head over this one! In this 2D puzzle game with some light combat, you fly around as a head on a jetpack thing and suck off the heads of robots, then stick your head on their bodies, thereby gaining control of each robot’s specific abilities. While the “head sucking” premise alone would earn this game a spot on this list, the groovy sci-fi spin on “Austin Powers” kicks it over the edge – we would expect nothing other than something this unique from our friends at Double Fine, creators of Psychonauts, Broken Age, and others.
Level 22 – You’re late for work and you have to sneak to your desk without being seen by the boss or you’re fired! It’s a stealth game set in the world of work which sounds really simple, but it’s actually a pretty complex puzzle game with the addition of vents to crawl through, doughnuts to distract guards with, newspapers and coffee cups and all manner of office paraphernalia. And some of the achievements in this game are seriously meta. This was one of our earlier ID@Xbox releases and I played this thing into the ground. At work. While I should have been working. Don’t tell the boss!
Maize – I used to live in Iowa and I like corn. There I said it. I’m not sure if that’s why I was drawn to the game or if it was the incredible visuals and beautiful art portraying sentient corn exploring a farm and then a laboratory to unravel the mystery of why sentient corn exists in the first place. And along the way you pick up an obnoxious talking teddy bear robot companion who just simply cannot believe that he’s saddled with being a sidekick to a dumb corn stalk. I mean, can you blame him? If you like adventure games, and corn, and teddy bears, and hysterical writing, and corn, then this is the game for you. And if you don’t like all those things then you really need to put some time aside to reevaluate your life choices.
Roundabout – You’re a limo driver and for some reason your limousine is constantly spinning in circles. Sure, you probably could have stopped to get it fixed at any point – sounds like a transaxle (I have no idea what that means). But you just go with it. With your horribly broken car you pick people up, drop them off and undertake various missions. And it’s all intercut with full motion videos (FMV) of these wacky people you’re picking up being wacky. This one is worth playing for the FMV scenes alone, if not to simply try to find out why somebody would make a game like this.
Thomas Was Alone – Unlike a lot of the other games on this list, Thomas Was Alone isn’t a funny game. It’s a serious game about a group of characters, each with distinctive, well developed personalities and a sophisticated character arc that progresses throughout the story. And they’re blocks. Blocks of different colors and sizes, but basically squares are rectangles. But you really care about those squares and rectangles by the end of the story. You really do. It’s weirdly beautiful.
Soda Drinker Pro – This is the crème-de-la-crème of weird games. This is the Mt. Everest of strangeness. This is the Mona Lisa of bizarre-o land. To describe this game in writing is an affront to the majesty of its absurdity, but with apologies I’ll give it a try. You drink soda. And you’re really good at it. And you drink soda on the beach, in a park, in a city and in various other locations appropriate to the activity of drinking soda. If you have mad skillz you can locate some bonus sodas. Sounds amazing, right? But wait, that’s not the half of it – literally. If you manage to stumble through some texture on one wall in level two you are transported to a completely different game. And that game is… also quite unique. There are some turtles and clocks and… who am I kidding I can’t possible describe it. If you have the chops to be a Soda Drinker – and not an amateur soda drinker – then check it out. (And if you’re from the Midwest and you say “Pop” I guess you’re out of luck.)
And so, that’s my list. There are many, many more strange and weird games that you should check out. Honorable mentions include: I Am Bread, Manual Samuel, Stay, The Magic Circle, Three Fourths Home and so many more. Please, go check out some of the weirdness that the ID@Xbox program delivers!
All of us here on Team Xbox are tremendous fans of the talent involved in the creation of games, especially those that come into the ID@Xbox program. From cartoon platformers to adventure games to strategy simulators, there’s a robust catalog of titles that deliver countless memories from those gaming worlds. It’s almost unfair that we can only share a few of those with you too, but we’ve taken some of our most memorable moments and captured them here in this feature. Enjoy.
Chris Charla – Senior Director of ID@Xbox
Having been part of ID@Xbox since the beginning, it’s extremely hard to pick one moment from the thousands of great moments and games and people involved with this program on both the Xbox and developer side. But if you made me pick just one, it would be E3 2015, when I was onstage, in the dark, watching Chad and Jared Moldenhauer introduce Cuphead. I knew how hard they were working, and I knew that after the teaser the year before, people were expecting a lot. I also know how much that trailer was going to blow everyone away. That moment when the StudioMDHR logo came up on stage, I got goosebumps like I never have before, and I just could not get the silly grin off my face watching that game own the stage at E3. There have been tons and tons and tons of other fantastic moments and games over the last five years, but that moment will always stay with me!
Phil Spencer – Head of Xbox
The game that comes to mind for me is Brothers. I have such a vivid memory of the first time I completed the game as there’s a key moment at the end in which the game mechanic is designed to reinforce the emotion I felt as a player. If you haven’t played it, Brothers is a cooperative, puzzle-based game where each thumbstick controls one of the two brothers on screen simultaneously. In the game, the brothers’ mother has died and their dad is sick and in need of medicine. The game is about the brothers’ quest to get medicine and by the end of the game, the older brother dies as well. As the story draws to a close, the younger brother is alone, trying to get back to his dad and to do so, he must swim across a stream. We learn early in the game that the younger brother does not swim. Until this moment in the game, he’s only crossed water on the back of his older brother.
So there I was, trying to finish the game, pausing and working to solve the puzzle of how to get the younger brother across the water without his older brother. And then the answer just came to me and when I tried it and it worked – it was spine tingling. I felt the loneliness and sadness of the young brother. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a gameplay mechanic that evoked emotion in the way Brothers did for me and so many other players.
Ashley McKissick – Head of Xbox Game Pass
Four years ago, when my son was six-years-old, we spent our winter vacation playing Never Alone and exploring the Iñupiat culture together. It was the perfect game to play with my little one. The co-op nature meant that we had to work together, and the controls were so intuitive and well-crafted. The fact that, while playing through the adventure, we also got to learn about this special Alaskan Native community, made it even more special. I also just absolutely loved the art style in Never Alone, especially the environments, and I am so glad that ID@Xbox enabled us to discover this game. Playing this little gem will remain a fond holiday memory for my son and I.
Craig Duncan – Studio Head, Rare Games
I’ve enjoyed many incredible ID@Xbox games over the years but my favorite moment is quite a recent one while browsing the what’s new in Xbox Game Pass section there was a game called Manual Samuel. I hadn’t heard of it but was drawn to the art of a cartoon death holding a puppet and then spent the next few hours being pulled out of my gaming comfort zone doing what appeared to be normal everyday tasks; without spoiling the plot which everyone should experience spoiler free it made me smile throughout and laugh at some of the dialog and the crazy moments that poor Samuel had to navigate with appropriate well deserved achievements awarded throughout including probably the craziest driving achievement I have ever earned 😊 A really funny, enjoyable and unique little adventure.
Katie Stone Perez – Principal Program Manager, Mixer
The timer ends, you see the results, and my daughters jump up and cheer “We did it!” We have come together as a family and defeated the unbread. That’s my favorite ID@Xbox moment. My family loves playing games together and Overcooked 2 provides a great level of challenge but when we work together we can always be successful. Each level starts with us coming up with a plan and then the chaos ensues. The game has become an almost nightly ritual for us before bed and I love that we can have that moment of success that unites us as a family.
Jeff Rubenstein – Xbox Comms and Inside Xbox Host
I may not recall my daughter’s first word, or exactly when she took her first steps. Should we have saved a lock of hair from her first haircut? Yet I vividly remember her first Minecraft world, I showed her how to record her first PotG in Overwatch, and was sitting right next to her during her first Fortnite Victory Royale – the culmination of a carefully laid game education curriculum that began with… Chariot. Yes, Frima Games’ platformer has players dragging a king’s coffin to a more luxurious burial site to placate his demanding spirit (who berates you on your journey), but it’s colorful, kid-friendly, and teaches the mechanics of platforming and cooperative play. More importantly, it sparked a love of gaming and a father-daughter bonding activity that continues to this day. And that’s better than a pair of bronzed baby shoes any day.
Graeme Boyd – Xbox Live’s AceyBongos and Inside Xbox Host
The day I got married is one of the greatest days of my life. I am, of course, talking about Stardew Valley. My real wedding was pretty good too, I guess. But in Stardew Valley, getting married felt like the culmination of months of hard work and careful relationship building as I carved out my new life on the farm. It felt like acceptance.
That’s the funny thing about Stardew Valley – it starts out like a nice mash-up of Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, and even Minecraft. But soon enough the rhythms of it – tending your crops, selling your goods, making new friends, exploring the town, the seasons rolling in and out – they get inside you. You feel part of something special. And for me, that experience was one of the most relaxing and fulfilling I’ve ever had in a video game. Stardew Valley became my happy place (I still have a map of the town next to my desk at work and I gaze longingly at it during stressful conference calls). Getting married made it even happier.
Oh, yeah. I got married to Leah. Obviously.
Will Tuttle – Editor in Chief of Xbox Wire
I’m a sucker for a great narrative and ID@Xbox has no shortage of amazing narrative-driven games, from the haunting family drama of the excellent What Remains of Edith Finch to the sci-fi horror of Soma. The best of these combine a compelling narrative with unique simple-but-complex gameplay. One of my favorite games of this generation, Thomas Was Aloneby Bithell Games, is a pitch-perfect example of that intoxicating blend. At first glance, the game looks like a straightforward, minimalistic platformer starring a group of quadrilateral shapes, but it quickly becomes clear that it’s much more.
Thanks to top-notch writing and some truly wonderful narration by British humorist Danny Wallace (who won a BAFTA for his performance), those little blocks become Thomas, Claire, Chris, John, and Laura. By combining those beautifully humanized shapes with some good old-fashioned puzzle platforming, Thomas Was Alone helped to push the medium forward in unexpectedly new ways.
Larry Hryb – Xbox Live’s Major Nelson and Inside Xbox Host
As a fan of film, music and obviously video games, I’ve long had an appreciation for content created and produced by independent studios. So, when I heard the ID@Xbox team was celebrating the release of their 1,000th indie title, I naturally considered some of my favorites and it was impossible not to think about Cuphead.
Cuphead is an absolute gem, featuring beautifully crafted visuals reminiscent of sound cartoons from the golden age of animation. The soundtrack is easily some of the best music you will hear in a video game, composed using live musicians playing jazz, early big band, and ragtime music, a favorite genre of mine. But Cuphead doesn’t just look and sound great, it plays great too. My colleagues may heckle me a bit as I praise Cuphead’s gameplay since I am admittedly “challenged” by some of the levels, but the game is just so much fun to play.
As great as Cuphead is though, the real magic of the game is with the number of subtle references (some might even call them Easter Eggs) seamlessly interwoven into the game. I heard mention of a Street Fighter reference when you battle the frogs Ribby and Croaks, and when I encountered that particular scene, it indeed appeared to be a clear tribute to Street Fighter.
Sure, there are the more obvious ones, like a building in the background named after the developers or the name of their studio appearing in different places. But when you dig a little deeper, you’ll discover a seemingly unending link to other cartoon characters, video games and real people including actors, musicians, artists, and cartoonists. It’s fascinating as you play the game when you recognize one of these subtle links and even more fascinating to think of all the hidden connections yet to be discovered.
Things are about to get spookier in Kingdom: New Lands as Halloween descends upon us. In the spirit of trick or treat, you might notice an evil grin on the moon during night time and haunted mansions in the far distance across the islands of Kingdom. Even the greedy creatures are dressed up in pumpkin masks, but they won’t be bribed with candy — they want your coins and crown.
For Halloween, you’re able to find a spooky horse wandering about. What does this cursed steed offer besides spreading horror to your loyal subjects? Kingdom has always been about exploration, discovery, and survival, so I don’t want to reveal all details.
Part of Kingdom’s experience is to figure out how you build up your Kingdom and manage it. As you expand and explore you understand how the world works and can be ruled effectively. In this journey, you’ll get to see different seasons and environment that evoke emotions of tranquillity and melancholy along the frantic nights when the greedy creatures appear.
I hope you’ll enjoy Halloween in Kingdom: New Lands. If you survive the horrors (and sugar rush after trick and treating), we’ll have more news on the sequel Kingdom Two Crowns in November. Besides new mounts like the mighty griffon, a brand-new campaign mode and local or online drop-in/drop-out co-op, we have still have a couple of surprises up our sleeves…
